Combatant socialization and norms of restraint

Examining officer training at the US Military Academy and Army Rotc

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3916277
AutoresAndrew M Bell (0000-0003-0438-8754, Department of International Studies, Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, Indiana University Bloomington; Research Fellow, Modern War Institute, US Military Academy, autor correspondente)
Ano2022
Volume59
Fascículo2
Páginas180-196
Data de publicação2022-03-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Peace Research (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0022-3433 • E-ISSN: 1460-3578
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/00223433211010861
OpenAlexW3199520758
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas7
Referências citadas72

Can armed groups socialize combatants to norms of restraint - in essence, train soldiers to adopt norms of international humanitarian law on the battlefield? How can social scientists accurately measure such socialization? Despite being the central focus of organizational and ideational theories of conflict, studies to date have not engaged in systematic, survey-based examination of this central socialization mechanism theorized to influence military conduct. This study advances scholarly understanding by providing the first comparative, survey-based examination of combatant socialization to norms of restraint, using surveys and interviews with US Army cadets at the US Military Academy (USMA), Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), and active duty Army combatants. Additionally, to better understand 'restraint' from combatants' perspective, this study introduces the concept of the 'combatant's trilemma' under which combatants conceptualize civilian protection as part of a costly trade-off with the values of military advantage and force protection. Survey results hold both positive and negative implications for socialization to law of war norms: military socialization can shift combatants' preferences for battlefield conduct. However, intensive norm socialization may be required to shift combatants' preferences from force protection to civilian protection norms. Study findings hold significant implications for understanding violence against civilians in conflict and for policies to disseminate civilian protection norms in armed groups worldwide

Artillery · Combatant · Criminology · Military justice · Military operations other than war · Military personnel · Military psychology · Military sociology · Norm (philosophy) · Officer · Political science · Preparedness · Public relations · Socialization · Spanish Civil War · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence · War, Ethics, and Justification